“No, she won’t. She... Well, she’s experienced some weird stuff in her life. Maybe not seeing-dead-people level of weird, but definitely some extreme weirdness.” He came closer, flickering again. “Please. It’s important. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I can’t—”

“Leave me alone until I play medium for you, or find real peace until this is achieved?” Nibbling on my thumbnail, I looked at the door again. “Where is she? And how am I supposed to find her? I’m not familiar with this city at all.”

“I can show you. It’s not far from here.”

I hesitated, because this wasn’t like Roth dropping me off in a park. What if the spirit got sucked back to Heaven, and I was out there, unable to see much? A flutter of nervous energy filled my chest.

What was I thinking? I could do this. I was independent, and if this spirit disappeared on me, then I would manage. Just like I’d managed when Zayne had left me on the sidewalk and I’d followed the Upper Level demon. I hadn’t hesitated then. I wasn’t going to hesitate now.

I was a Trueborn, and I was a badass, and this spirit needed my help.

“Okay,” I said, lifting my chin. “Let’s do this.”

Relief poured into his features and he shot toward me, arms out as if he were about to hug me, but he stopped and let his arms flop to his sides. “Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”

I had some idea of how important it was, which was why I was helping. “My name is Trinity, by the way. Are you going to tell me yours?”

He looked like he was about to offer me his hand in a greeting, but remembered that wasn’t going to work. “I’m Sam—Sam Wickers. It’s good to meet you, Trinity.”

Walking down the street beside a spirit was super weird, but it wasn’t the first time I’d conversed with one in public. Back in the Community, I’d usually had Misha or Jada with me, so it hadn’t looked like I was talking to myself.

I didn’t have that luxury today, but I had creativity.

Sam looked at me strangely as I slipped on my dark oversize sunglasses. It was overcast and looked like it would start raining at some point today.

He spoke up finally when I tugged a pair of earbuds out of the front pocket of my bag, which I’d grabbed from the bedroom before we left. I plugged them into my phone and popped them in my ears.